Technics Announces New Reference Class SP-10R Direct Drive Turntable

Technics will be showing at IFA 2017 (Berlin, Sept.1-6) a brand new edition of its legendary SP-10d direct drive turntable. The new SP-10R shown in the above picture is slated to debut in the summer of 2018.

We take this as an indication of the success of Technics's 'turntable re-launch of a few years ago.

All of those denialist trolls claiming it is just a millennial fad can start explaining how it is that the "fad" is making all of these TT manufacturers investments worthwhile. I suppose you could argue that they have not done any market research and just going on trends, but when a decade into the "fad" the big boys are starting to claim a slice of the pie, it appears to me, they have waited prudently, done the research and decided it is a safe bet. And companies like Technics are doubling down on their efforts, which means their initial forays have paid off. Smaller companies that rely exclusively on TT sales are expanding and having a hard time meeting demand. And of course, the bulk of it is entry-level tables, but a good chunk of the pie is tables in the $4-10K range. This is not just millennials. I see the videos of the audio shows in Asia, they are going crazy over high-end turntables and record collecting is serious stuff there. But hey, better keep hating all of those who don't make my preconceptions come true and troll away.

Given that the SP-10R is supposed to be a drop-in for the earlier models, if Technics doesn't offer their own plinth, then Oswalds Mill should have something suitable.
100 pounds of slate should suffice:https://oswaldsmillaudio.com/technics

...that the SP-10 Mk. III (or was it the Mk. II) used the same motor used by cutting lathes. That's some accurate sheet, mon! I could see bringing back the 1200, but this SP-10R is a total surprise. No doubt it will be at AXPONA. It will be interesting to see which arm they pair it with.

This thing may single-handedly put everything else selling for more than its price on the shelf. Technics and Denon both had standalone DD units that could be combined with custom plinth's and SOTA tonearms back in the day and they were world-class. I am still using a DP-75 with a Mission Mechanic tonearm in a custom plinth, and it is fully competitive with my SOTA Sapphire / MDC-800 The Arm combination.

This thing could but a BUNCH of other hyper-expensive tables to shame. NOBODY (except VPI briefly) has put a better Direct Drive motor than what was in the old SP-10 in the marketplace.

Surely wish they would reshape the top plate - loose the two back corners - so that 9" arms could be used with this - as it is now - just like its predecessors the SP10 / MK2 / MK3 only 12" arms can be used.

Other than that its a super exciting table, looking forward to working with it

Rudy, and others interested in this trivia, the Technics motor utilized in cutting lathes was the SP-02. It was designed and sold for that purpose only, not as a consumer product. But no doubt there was design influence in the development of the SP-10 Mk 2 and Mk 3.

Somehow I ended up on the Oswalds Mills Audio website and they bring up the old debate; direct drive and idler drive vs. belt drive. As you can see by this link, https://oswaldsmillaudio.com/turntable they are clearly in the idler/direct drive camp and present a convincing argument. I own belt drive and a direct drive. What's your opinion based on Oswalds?